Richard h



RICHARD H.

TOWNSEND, OF NEW YORK,

WORKING THE VALVES OF STEAM-ENGINES.

Specicaton lof Letters Patent No. 10,018, dated September 413, 1853.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, RICHARD H. TOWN- SEND, of the city, county, andState of New York, have invented and made certain new and usefulImprovements in the Means for Moving and Actuating the Valves of Steam-Engines; and I ldo hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the construction and operation of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part of thisspecilication, wherein-- Figure 1, is a side elevation of a horizontalengine with the valve chest shown open to represent the position of thevalve and steam po-rts. Fig. 2, is an elevation of the governor andparts at right angles to Fig. 1.

The like marks of reference designate the same parts.

The nature of my said invention consists in a peculiar combination ofthe eccentric and cam, the eccentric working as usual when operating onthe valve to give the engine steam nearly the entire stroke; the cam soshaped that when it is brought into operation, the valve is moved insuch a way as to cut 0E at the smallest part of the stroke at which theengine is required to work. These motions are combined by means of asector operated on by the governor, that when the governor balls fall inconsequence of the increased power required from the engine diminishingthe speed, the eccentric is brought into operation on the valve, andwhen the engine is doing little work, the operation of the governor bysliding the sector brings the cam into operation to cut ofil and allowthe engine but little steam; the regulation of the position of thesector by the governor thus at any intermediate point or at theextremes, supplying steam and causing the valve to cut off in proportionto the work to be performed. And by a peculiar apparatus in case thevalve does not supply the required steam to keep up the momentum, thethrottle valve is opened farther, or the reverse operation is performedif the work be thrown olf the 'engine so as to need little steam.

A, is the bed of the engine, carrying the cylinder B; a, is the pistonrod; the connecting rod to the crank c, on the shaft e, supported inpillow blocks d. These parts so far may be of any usual character, and

I have shown herein my improvements as attached to a horlzontal engine,but by slightly varying the parts, they will be suitcentric rod from thering l, to a slotted seci tor 71 through a block or slide in whichslotted sector is the crank pin 2, of the rock shaft 4, the outer end ofthe rod g and sector being suspended by a sling o, so as to vibrate; andthe crank pin 2, is connected by a link 3, setting loose on the rockshaft, and a lever 5, attached firmly to the rock shaft by means of anarm 6, connects or disconnects the valves and eccentric by a notch inthe lever as usual.

is the arm on t-he rock shaft with a rod 7 to the valve z', in the steamchest 7c, of the cyllnder; 8 and 9, are the induction ports, and 10, areexhaust ports of any usual form or character. The parts thus far,working as usual, need no more description n, is a cam on the mainshaft, which may either be a separate fixture or a groove in the body ofthe eccentric f.

l1, is a rod sliding through a guide 12, on-the ring 1, of the eccentricor other suitable support, on the end of which rod 11, is a pin orroller working in the groove of the cam, the other end of the rod beingconnected at 13, to the sector h. The shape of i the cam n, is such thatif the sector z, be raised so that the point 13, comes opposite thecrank pin 2, of the rock shaft it will cause the valve z', to cut offthe steam at the quarter half or any other point of the stroke required,keeping the valve in that position and allowing the engine toworkexpansively the remainder of the stroke, which operation by a camalone on the valve is well known.

The sector 7L, is curved from the center of the eccentric; consequentlyif the points 13 and 14, are equidistant from the center of theeccentric, (as they are at the commencement of each stroke) theeccentric rod and sector' could be moved up or down on the pin 2,without moving the valve, consequently it will be seen that the positionin which the sector is placed on the crank pin 2, causes either theeccentric or cam to be brought into operation, alone at the extremes,(the sector vibrating on the pin 2, by the motion of the cam oreccentric not in operation on the valve); and at any intermediate pointthe valve receives a motion the resultant of both the cam and eccentric,cutting ofi' at a point proportioned to the proximity of the pin 2, toeither the points 13 or 14. The means used to move the sector on the pin2, may be of any desired character according to the requirements of theengine, but I prefer that the same should be actuated from the governorso as to be self regulating; for this purpose I have represented thefollowing apparatus.

y?, is a block receiving the joint of the upper end of the sling 0,which block is set on slides 15, and has a screw 16, passing through thesame, by the rotation of which the sector is moved and sustained.

g, are the governor balls on the spindle 23, propelled as usual from themain shaft.v 24 are slings to a sleeve around the spindle moving on akey, which sleeve carries, at its upper and lower ends miter wheels 21and 22, facing each other, at a suificient distance apart not to touchthe upper and lower edgey of a miter wheel 19, at the same time, so thatthe governors can rotate without mov-y ing said wheel 19, but if thegovernor balls rise the wheel 19 will be rotated in one direction and ifthey fall in the other direction, by the miter wheels coming together;this rotation is communicated by miter wheels 17 and 18, to the screw16; 20, are the supports forthe shaft of the wheels 18 and 19. By thismeans the speed of the engine places the sector h, so as to cut olf bythe valve in proportion t-o the work required of the engine. 1

25, is a vertical sliding rod on which are pins 26 and 27 near theextremes of the motion given to the block p, and so that the block p, inmoving to the top or bottom of its slides gives at that point a motioneither up or down to the rod 25, which motion is communicated by a rightangle crank r, and rod 28, to the arm 29 on the spindle of the throttleor stop valve which arm is weighted so that the throttle valve isreturned to its usual position when any unusual strain is relieved fromthe engine, or when the ordinary work is again given to the power afterit has been thrown off. I prefer that a lever m, be used as now commonand that the arm 29 be attached by a screw Z, so that the engineer cangive the engine the ordinary quantity of steam, and then by tighteningthe screw Z, attach the Yspeed of the engine regulates the position ofthe sector.

I am aware that the cam and eccentric have both been used to work thevalves of a steam engine, therefore I do not claim them separately; butI am not aware that they have ever been combined by means of a sectorthereby bringing either the cam or eccentric into operation alone ortogether `to give the valve a motion between the two eX- trenies of afull supply and a quick cut off as required. And I am also aware that ascrew has been moved from a governor to regulate the amount of steam orwater supplied as active power to the engine, but I am not aware thatthe governor has ever been used to bring either the cam or eccentricinto operation on the valve by means of the screw or any other suitabledevice; therefore What I desire to secure by Letters Patent is: e

1. I claim the combination of a cam and eccentric by means of the sectorit, or its equivalent to operate on the valve or parts that move thesame, and cut off or work with the full pressure by the eccentricaccording to the position of said sector as described and shown.

2. I claim adjusting the position of the sector 7i, by means of thegovernor through the screw or other suitable means whereby the governorregulates the position of the sector to communicate the desired motionto the valve of the engine from the eccentric or cam or both accordingto the power required from the engine as specified.

3. I claim the rod 25, and points 26 and 27 to take motion from theblock 79 at its eX-v tremes of motion and communicate the same by meansof the right angle lever r, to the throttle or stop valve as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature this day thetwenty-sixth of May, one thousand eight hundred and fiftythree.

R. H. TOVNSEND. Witnesses SAML. ToWNsEND, LEMUEL W. SERRELL.

